Hold It Close (MacAteer Brothers Book 3)

by ML Nystrom

  Sloane set two whiskey shots and two green beers on the bar. Patrick picked up the small glass in one hand and the beer in the other. Angus did the same. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Sláinte!”

  “Sláinte!” Garrett, Connor, and Owen had switched to beer. Glasses clinked and lifted. Patrick turned to Rhyleigh. “So, is your name Happiness?”

  Such a flirt!

  Rhyleigh giggled, but Melanie answered. “Don’t you try anything with this one, Patrick MacAteer. You either, Angus.” She turned to face the petite yoga instructor. “Fair warning, sister. These two are the biggest flirts God ever put on this planet. I wouldn’t take anything they say seriously.”

  Patrick pretended to be hurt. He put a hand over his heart and made a gulping sound. “Shot dead. Oh, cruel, cruel woman! You’ll dance over me grave at midnight, won’t you?”

  “Absolutely, if you fuck with my friend here.”

  Angus put his empty shot glass on the bar and took a big swig of beer. “Ah now, lass. We won’t fuck with your friend. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Rhyleigh Givens. Part-owner of the soon to open Yoga Spot, along with Melanie and Bertie and Jodie.”

  Two pairs of vivid green eyes came to me. “You’re Bertie, then? Garrett’s Bertie? Nice to meet you. Connor tells use you’re not a raving lunatic bitch like the last one.”

  “Here now, Patrick. Watch your tongue.” Garrett bristled.

  I intervened by sticking out my hand. “Yes, I’m Bernadette, or Bertie for short. And no, I’m not a raving lunatic. Bitch only when necessary.”

  Patrick paused for a half second, then threw his head back and roared with laughter. He bypassed my hand and enfolded me in a big bear hug. “Great to meet you, lass. It’s about time Garrett found himself a good one. Fuck me sideways, I’m always late to the party. Barkeep! Another round!”

  “None for us, Sloane. We need to get going.” Melanie put her empty glass on the bar, and Sloane whisked it away as she poured another round of shots.

  “It’s early yet,” Angus protested. He picked up his colored drink and swallowed a good portion of it. “Patrick and I have to catch up a wee bit.”

  “We have a babysitter that is probably watching the clock right about now. Love that you guys are here. Talk business and shit. We’ll see you tomorrow at lunch, yes?”

  Patrick bear hugged Melanie as he had Beverly and me. “Feed me and you’ll be my favorite sister-in-law.”

  “Beverly’s cooking. I can’t boil water without burning it.”

  “I need to get home, too. The kids have been on their own long enough. Connor, why don’t you stay for a while and hang with your brothers?” Beverly turned to Garrett and me. “Can you two bring him home later?”

  Garrett nodded. “I’m done drinking for the night. Are you good to drive?”

  “I had that one shot about an hour ago, and lots of water after. I’m good. If I wasn’t, I’d say so.”

  Connor bent down and kissed Beverly with a quick peck. “Thank you, love. Text me if you need me to come home.”

  “Are the twins staying with us tonight?”

  Angus shuffled next to Rhyleigh and offered her an empty barstool. “We booked rooms in the cheapest motel we could find. The place is a dump, but we’re okay for the night. We can talk about other accommodations tomorrow. Yeah?”

  “It’s a plan. Rhyleigh, you’re welcome to come eat tomorrow at the house if you want. You know the address, right? If not, get it from Garrett.”

  Rhyleigh took the stool, which put her very close to Angus. He placed an arm behind her, effectively caging her in but not touching her. I wondered at the move, but my attention flew to Patrick’s next announcement.

  “Party poopers, the lot of ya. Rhyleigh and Bertie, me true luvs, dance with me before I grow roots.”

  He took my hand and tugged Rhyleigh off the stool. I gave Garrett a what-can-I-do smile as Patrick dragged us to the dance floor. He pogoed around more than danced. The band had resumed playing a mix of Irish traditional music with rock and pop songs. Patrick sang at the top of his lungs and hopped on stage to join the group when they started “The Rattlin’ Bog” and did a credible job. He exited to a great round of applause, took an exaggerated bow, and resumed dancing. I supposed he could have been considered obnoxious by some, but his looks and charm helped dispel that notion. Several other women joined us, pulled in by the man’s exuberance, and I eventually bowed out and left him to it. Rhyleigh matched him dance for dance, but she gave up after a while too.

  Connor, Garrett, and Angus had managed to find a clear table and commandeered it. Many people had cleared out by the time last call came.

  “I can’t believe we closed down the bar. I haven’t stayed out this late in forever.” Rhyleigh waved cool air over her face.

  Angus got up and let her sit in his chair while he stood right behind it. “Water?”

  She smiled at him. “I’d better go home before my adrenaline runs out and I crash.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car then.”

  She demurred a bit. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Aye, I do.”

  His tone indicated he meant business, and Rhyleigh gave in. “Okay. Goodnight, everyone. See you at class, Bertie.”

  Angus held the back of the chair for Rhyleigh to stand. “You’re coming to lunch tomorrow?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You’re coming to lunch tomorrow.”

  I found Angus’s presence much more intimidating than Patrick’s. He sounded rather commanding, and that seemed more obnoxious than Patrick’s antics. Still, I didn’t know him, and maybe he was just being protective. It was past midnight after all. The two of them walked out as Patrick flopped his sweaty body into the vacated chair.

  “Oy, what a night! Great music. Barkeep! A pint of your finest!”

  “Last call happened twenty minutes ago,” Sloane called back.

  “Ah please, my lovely lass, just one wee pint to quench me parched throat.”

  “Nope.”

  “Please, darlin’? I’m new in town, and I’m lookin’ for a warm, wet welcome.”

  His big grin and exaggerated tone belied the double meaning of his words. Sloane wasn’t impressed. “I’ll give you a bottle for the road if you stand on that table and sing ‘Danny Boy’ so I can post it on the Facebook page.”

  “Challenge accepted!” He climbed on the table, put his hand over his heart, and began.

  Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

  From glen to glen, and down the mountain side

  The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling

  'Tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.

  Angus came back in and picked up the tune, harmonizing with his brother. Connor had been blinking back sleep for quite a while. He stood up and added his voice to the mix.

  I found myself drowning in the sound of the male voices when Garrett joined them. The sight of the four men coming together in one united family was breathtaking. My eyes grew wet at their blended music as it floated through the pub and took the focus of everyone left. This family, these men, this moment, filled me with rightness. The world clicked into place like Garrett’s puzzle. Life had fit itself together and was ready for more. I looked at Garrett as he sang with his brothers. If I hadn’t fallen in love with him already, I surely did now.

  The few hardcore patrons that were still there came over and either sang with the impromptu performance or hummed the tune. Even Gordon came from behind the bar to bring his baritone.

  And I shall hear, tho’ soft you tread above me

  And all my grave will warm and sweeter be

  For you will bend and tell me that you love me

  And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

  The sound of a single person clapping came from the bar. Sloane held out two handfuls of cold bottles. “Take ’em home before you open them, boys. Now that’s how you close down a pub.”

>   Twenty

  “Garrett.”

  “Hold on.”

  “Garrett!”

  “Wait for it.”

  I couldn’t hold back any longer and cried out as I came. I was on my hands and knees, Garrett power thrusting behind me. He slammed inside one more time before finding his own release.

  “You okay, baby?”

  I gasped for breath. “I need a minute.”

  We’d collapsed in bed and fallen asleep as soon as we got home from the bar. Garrett woke me this morning by teasing my body into a wanting frenzy, and we went at each other. I tried to get on top, and succeeded for a little while, but then he flipped me and set me in my present position. The orgasm he ripped out of me was the hardest and longest one I’d ever had. I lay under him, heard his heavy panting, and basked in the heat radiating from his body, totally satisfied in a way I never thought I could be.

  He kissed my shoulder before moving off me to get rid of the condom and clean up. Our mornings often started this way. I went in to use the shower while Garrett got up, fed Pal, and started coffee.

  “Are we taking anything to Bev’s this afternoon?” I called out. I’d wrapped a towel around my waist and another around my head. I heard Pal barking, probably after a bird or squirrel or something.

  “Put some clothes on and come in here, darlin’.”

  I smiled. “If I put clothes on, you can’t take them off again.”

  “Bertie, love, you really need to come in here.”

  He sounded strange. Distant. He had closed the door to the bedroom, which was odd because we normally left it open all the time. Pal kept barking from outside, demanding to be let in, and there had to be a reason Garrett wouldn’t. I threw on a pair of navy-blue yoga pants, a T-shirt, and a gray hoodie. My hair got towel dried, and I raked a comb through it as I opened the bedroom door. “What’s going on?”

  Karl looked up at me from his seated position on the sofa. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hello, Bertie.”

  Surprise was the least of my reactions. My gaze darted to Garrett, who stood in the kitchen with a coffee mug in his hand and another one on the counter. His face had a frozen, unreadable expression on it. “He was outside waiting on the porch when I let Pal out.”

  I didn’t know quite what to think or do, so I stuck with my usual routine of joining Garrett for our morning caffeine hit. I went to him and snagged the cup he made for me. He raised his eyes, and I saw uncertainty in them. I hoped my smile reassured him as I bumped his arm up so I could slide under it as I faced my ex-husband.

  “Hello, Karl. This is Garrett. Garret, Karl.” I sipped at the strong brew. “Why are you here?”

  Karl didn’t miss the significance of my gesture. His eyes took in my position and the confidence I had in Garrett’s welcome. Garrett, on the other hand, was stiff as a board.

  “I came up to talk to you.” Karl shook his head as if clearing it. “Can we speak privately?”

  “I’m not sure there is anything we need to talk about. We’ve settled our property a long time ago. Separated assets, signed all the papers. I don’t know that there’s anything left.”

  “We were married for nine years.”

  “Yes, we were. We’re also divorced now.”

  He frowned and looked at Garrett’s hold on me. “I’d really like to talk without an audience, Bertie. You owe me at least that much.”

  I bristled up, but before I could respond, Garrett stepped in. “She doesn’t owe you jackshit, boy-o. You came to say somethin’, then get on with it. We have our lives to get to.”

  Karl stood taller, and the testosterone in the room ramped up. “This is none of your business.”

  “Oh, I think you’re wrong about that. Anything that concerns Bertie, concerns me.”

  Karl ignored Garrett and appealed to me one more time. “Bertie—”

  “First of all, Garrett is right. I don’t owe you anything. Not my time. Not my attention. If you can’t say what you have to say in front of Garrett, I’m not sure I need to hear it. You came up here randomly to my new home and my new life, and I can see no valid reason for that. We are divorced, and frankly, our marriage was over long before we signed any papers. At the risk of repeating myself, why are you here? Either spit it out or leave.”

  “I’m sorry.” Karl seemed to deflate. “I should have called first. I just needed to see you. I needed….” His eyes dropped. “Please, Bertie. Just a few minutes of your time and I’ll leave. I promise I won’t bother you again.”

  My heart relented. Karl’s demeanor showed abject misery. Garrett’s hold on me tightened as I turned to him. “I know you don’t like it, but I’ll be okay talking to him. He can say what he needs to say and go.”

  “I’ll no’ be leavin’ ye alone with this man.”

  His growl struck me as fearful more than angry. Garrett was scared. Scared I would change my mind about us. Scared I still loved my ex-husband. Scared I might decide to leave. I put my hand up to his jaw to break the stare he had with Karl and drew his sole attention to me. “I’m asking a lot of you right now, but you can trust me. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Garrett stood vibrating with tension. Indecision radiated from him in waves, but he relented. “I’ll go grab a shower. Call out if you need me.”

  Before he left, he took my chin in his fingers. His eyes stared straight into mine and I swear his entire being reflected in those green orbs. “I trust you, mo shíorghrá.”

  I leaned up and kissed his hard mouth. “Thank you, sweetheart. You don’t need to worry about him.”

  He moved stiffly into the bedroom, and a moment later the muffled sound of water hitting the bathtub filled the room.

  I turned back to Karl and crossed my arms in front of him. “Well?”

  “I miss you, Bertie.”

  “You’ve mentioned that before.”

  “I never realized what our marriage meant to me until we actually split and you weren’t there anymore.” He laughed and his eyes raised to the ceiling. “I’m sure it’s the oldest story in the book. We both got caught up in making our careers successful and didn’t pay enough attention to us as a couple. Damaris was flirty and fun and always around me at work. I don’t remember how it started. Going out to lunch together, working projects, spending time with each other. Then it got serious when one afternoon we went to a hotel.”

  He bit his lip and shook his head. His eyes cast downward as he couldn’t meet mine. “I’ll spare you the details, but for me it felt good to hear her complete devotion to me. She told me I was the reason she got up every day to come to work. Just being with me meant something to her. We started the affair. Every week, and sometimes twice a week, we’d go to her apartment and spend the afternoon together. She talked about you all the time, saying she hated that I had to leave and go home to you. To a loveless marriage. She was so kind and concerned about me at that time I started to see you as a dragging anchor, holding me back. You liked going to concerts and craft shows. Not my thing, and the few times you guilted me into going, I hated it. I might have even hated you a little. You made me go to that big art walk downtown, and I spent the entire time holding your hand and thinking about Damaris. I felt so damn guilty about how I treated you and Damaris, but at the same time, I couldn’t convince myself to leave you for her.”

  I kept my stance, but irritation flared in my chest. “I’m not really interested in you rehashing the details of your affair. Why are you here?”

  His voice broke. “Do you remember the night we decided our marriage was really and truly over? I came home after spending the afternoon in bed with Damaris. She told me how much she loved me and how much she wanted to be with me. I’d heard that so many times from her, I convinced myself that our marriage was over and she should be the woman I spent the rest of my life with.”

  His continued pontification reminded me again about why we split up. “Please, get to the point, Karl.” My neck prickled with annoyance as he ignored my re
quest to get on with it rather than mansplain stuff I really didn’t care to know about.

  “I came home, and you were looking at real estate listings. Had those things spread out all over the coffee table. You talked about us owning a bed-and-breakfast place, how you’d decorate it and plant flowers and stuff. Your face showed such excitement when you spoke about it. The timing was too perfect. We talked and decided we wanted different things in life, and I got a pass on telling you about Damaris and our affair. We separated, settled our property, did all the legal stuff, and we never argued about it.”

  He moved to sit on the sofa as if his legs couldn’t hold his weight any longer. I admit my heart bled a little. At one time he had been the love of my life, and it was hard to hear about how he’d cheated on me. I understood more about how it happened, but it still didn’t mean I excused it. If he had been that unhappy, he should have talked to me, not Damaris, about it. “This still doesn’t tell me why you’re here, Karl.”

  “Damaris turned up pregnant while we waited for our separation year to be up. I thought it was a sign that all of us were on the right paths. You moved up here, started your new life, and I married Damaris as soon as I could.” He paused and took a big breath. “Fuck me, I made the biggest mistake of my life when I took the ring from your finger and put it on hers.”

  I kept my stance even though his words rocked me to my core. The noise of the shower stopped, and I kept my rigid cross-armed stance as Karl continued his confession. His use of cuss words startled me enough, but he had other bombs to drop.

  “She changed. She changed so fucking much, I got whiplash. First thing she did when she moved in was get rid of all the furniture, china, linens, every goddamn thing we had in our condo that you might have laid a hand on. Even the gifts or clothes you got me and any pictures of the two of us. All of it. When I protested, she flew into a rage and trashed the condo. I’ve never seen anyone lose control like that. She said it was pregnancy hormones, and I bought it because I didn’t want to believe she was capable of that kind of deceit. Fuck, I was so fucking wrong.”